The Oregon Labor Dispatch is a weekly email and blog series designed to keep Oregon’s workers informed of the latest news about unions, worker power, and much more. Each week, we bring you a curated selection of news stories, graphics, and information about upcoming events and actions. When Oregon’s Labor Movement is connected, updated and informed we are able to be stronger advocates for all working Oregonians.
If you have a news story, event or action you’d like to see featured in the Oregon Labor Dispatch please email us at communications@oraflcio.org.
🗓️Upcoming Events
📖 Support SEIU Local 503 Members at Oregon’s Public Universities
Thursday, February 8, 2024 at Noon
SEIU-represented workers at all seven of Oregon’s public universities will hold practice pickets to call attention to their fight for a fair contract. These workers play an essential role in the operations of Oregon’s higher education system and deserve to work under a contract that meets their needs. Click here to learn more about their campaign, how you can get involved, and to register to attend a practice picket at a university near you! You can also sign a petition to show support if you’re unable to attend a picket.
🪧 PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services Strike Kickoff Rally
Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 10:00am at Sacred Heart Home Care Services, 123 International Way in Springfield
Oregon Nurses Association members at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care services will begin their strike on February 10 and will hold picket lines Monday - Friday from 7:00am - 7:00pm. Come join ONA and the Lane County labor community to make sure the strike begins with a strong start! Click here for RSVP.
✈️ AFA-CWA Worldwide Day of Action
Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at 11:00am at Portland International Airport
On February 13, Flight Attendants from around the world are coming together to bring their collective struggle to the public eye. Together, they’re taking a stand against widespread corporate greed and fighting for the contracts they’ve rightfully earned. Click here to RSVP.
🕯️Providence Candlelight Vigil
Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at 6:00pm at Providence Milwaukie, 10150 SE 32nd Ave in Milwaukie
It’s time to call Providence out on their failures. ONA nurses, health professionals, physicians, and their community and labor allies are holding a candlelight vigil to highlight the ongoing patient care crisis at Providence facilities. Join us to say ‘No More’ to unsafe workloads and added job requirements, chronic staffing shortages, and massive attrition caused by gross inequities in working conditions. We will gather outside Providence Milwaukie Hospital. Everyone is welcome to attend. Click here to RSVP.
🏫 Support Portland Community College Federation of Classified Employees
The PCCFCE has been bargaining for a year and their contract expired in July of 2023. Urgent issues for classified staff are short staffing, wages that haven’t kept pace with inflation, and healthcare affordability. Please join PCCFCE members at a series of escalating actions on PCC campuses this month and keep up the pressure until a fair contract is reached!
PCC ROCK CREEK CAMPUS: Tuesday, February 13: 12:30-1:30pm
17705 NW Springville Rd, Portland, OR 97229
Meeting Location: Bus loop in front of building 5
PCC CASCADE CAMPUS: Wednesday, February 14: 12:30-1:30pm
705 N Killingsworth St, Portland, OR 97217
Meeting Location: Between Library and Arts Buildings
PCC SYLVANIA CAMPUS: Tuesday, February 20: 12:30-1:30pm
12000 SW 49th Ave, Portland, OR 97219
Meeting Location: Plaza in front of PAC Center
PCC SOUTHEAST CAMPUS: Wednesday, February 21: 12:30-1:30pm
2305 SE 82nd Ave, Portland, OR 97216
Meeting Location: Front of Library (on Division St side)
🖤Black History Month
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists: Black History Month Events
Ongoing throughout February both on Zoom and in person in Portland The Oregon Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) cordially invites you to join us for a month-long recognition of Black excellence in conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association, Portland Rising, Oregon AFSCME, and AFRAM/SEIU Local 503. The primary focus is health care.
February 8, 2024 at 6:30pm: Black Relevance in Politics Forum
February 15, 2024 at 6:30pm: Health Care Forum
February 22, 2024 at 6:30pm: Labor History Workshop (In Person at Oregon AFL-CIO)
February 29, 2024 at 7:00pm: Movie Night (In Person at SEIU Local 503)
🗺️Strike Map
The Oregon AFL-CIO’s Strike Map is back to help mobilize support for the Oregon Nurses Association’s strike at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care services. Click here to download the map as a PNG or PDF file.
If your union is planning to strike, please send a message to communications@oraflcio.org to help us spread the word and mobilize support for your strike.
👉🏼 Must Read
February 2, 2024 | Oregon AFL-CIO
“Visitors to the Oregon Labor Center may have noticed a big change in the lobby this year: A new mural depicting the fight to build power for working Oregonians.”
Oregon Labor
February 7, 2024 | Wilsonville Spokesman
“Outside the Wilsonville headquarters of the Oregon-Columbia chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America, members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 701 and other building trade unions stood alongside the inflatables in protest. Cars honked at the union members as they began their campaign to “shame” the AGC chapter for pursuing a restraining order to block a Community Workforce Agreement attached to a number of key construction projects planned by the Oregon Department of Transportation.”
February 7, 2024 | Oregon Capitol Chronicle
“Officials cite a large uptick in claims filed over the last few years and an outdated system for managing cases as main factors in the civil rights and wage claim backlogs. The pandemic also prevented other labor bureau staff from conducting in-person reviews of Oregon’s apprenticeship programs, as required by federal and state law, to ensure they’re meeting quality standards in training and instruction. Today, 98% of apprenticeships in trades such as electrical and plumbing are overdue for a review.”
February 6, 2024 | Willamette Week
“House Bill 4045, sponsored by state Rep. Dacia Grayber (D-Portland), who is a firefighter, would also lower the retirement age from 60 to 55 for police and firefighters who are in Tier 3 of the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (i.e., the newest members of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System).”
February 2, 2024 | Northwest Labor Press
“More than 90 registered nurses at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Service near Eugene expect to begin a two-week strike at 7 a.m. Feb. 10.”
February 2, 2024 | Northwest Labor Press
“Michael Faulkner’s Jan. 13 work shift was a race against the clock and the cold. Faulkner, a bridge maintenance specialist with Multnomah County, usually repairs damaged roads or broken mechanical parts on bridges. But when winter weather rolls in — like the snow and ice storm that hit the Portland area mid-January — his duties shift to clearing bridge decks for drivers and keeping drawbridges working.”
Politics & Legislation
February 6, 2024 | Common Dreams
“Legislation introduced Tuesday by a pair of Democratic lawmakers would close a loophole that lets billionaires donate assets to dark money organizations without paying any taxes. The U.S. tax code allows write-offs when appreciated assets such as shares of stock are donated to a charity, but the tax break doesn't apply when the assets are given to political groups.”
February 5, 2024 | The New York Times
“President Biden met on Monday with members of Nevada’s powerful culinary workers union, after the union averted a planned strike by reaching contract agreements with Las Vegas properties over the weekend. Mr. Biden visited the Vdara Hotel, one of the properties where the union agreed to a contract for its members, and greeted workers in an employee cafeteria — shaking hands, taking photos and at one point appearing to FaceTime with someone on a worker’s phone.”
Building Greater Power in 2024
February 5, 2024 | The Globe
By U.S. Sen. Tina Smith: “Last year, scenes of striking workers and picket lines dominated the news. Workers from all corners of the American economy — from writers and auto workers, to teachers and health care professionals — came together to fight for their fair share. The labor movement had a big moment in 2023. I hope we can say the same in 2024.”
Organizing
February 6, 2024 | AFL-CIO
“Yesterday’s NLRB decision affirming the right of Dartmouth men’s basketball team to join a union is game-changing. College athletes put their heart and soul into excelling for their schools, working long, grueling hours and risking bodily injury each and every day. These athletes, like so many other young workers, are standing together to improve their lives. The labor movement stands in firm solidarity with student worker-athletes seeking a voice on the job.“
February 6, 2024 | Variety
“Employees at IGN, the popular video game and entertainment media site, have announced that they are unionizing with the NewsGuild-CWA labor union. The IGN Creators Guild consists of editorial and creative workers at IGN, which is owned by digital media parent company Ziff Davis. The guild is currently made of over 80 employees, with 87% of the eligible members signing union authorization cards. The union will be fighting for better pay, layoff protections, measurable steps that increase staff diversity and more.”
February 5, 2024 | Labor Tribune
“Union membership grew by 139,000 in 2023, according to a report on union density released Jan. 23 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Union membership in the private sector increased by 191,000 members, with a majority of new members under the age of 45. More than 900,000 union members won double-digit wage increases through new contracts last year.”
February 5, 2024 | Dance Magazine
“Lots of dancers are union members—that isn’t new. Many of the country’s largest dance companies are unionized with the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), and dancers who work on Broadway are members of the Actors’ Equity Association. The Radio City Rockettes, Cirque du Soleil performers, and dancers at Disney and Universal theme parks are members of the American Guild of Variety Artists, and many other commercial dancers are members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).”
February 2, 2024 | In These Times
“Auto workers at Hyundai in Montgomery, Alabama, have signed up more than 30 percent of their nearly 4,000 co-workers in an ambitious drive to unionize.”
Strikes & Collective Bargaining
February 6, 2024 | The Hollywood Reporter
“Creative workers at The Onion, The A.V. Club and Deadspin and other titles owned by G/O Media have ratified the tentative deal that averted a potential strike. Out of 36 members in the Writers Guild of America East-represented bargaining unit, 33 voted “yes” on the labor agreement reached Jan. 31 while three rejected the deal, the WGA East announced on Tuesday.”
February 6, 2024 | CBS Chicago
“More than 40 members of the Chicago Teachers Union at two Instituto charter schools went on strike Tuesday after the union said it failed to reach a new agreement with the school’s operator. “We want to have the administration respect not just us but also the students that are here,” said science teacher Louis Lucas. Teachers hit the picket lines in front of Instituto Health Science Career Academy and said they’ve been working without a contract for two years.”
February 5, 2024 | ABC News
“A union representing hospitality workers says it has reached a tentative agreement with six more hotel-casinos in downtown Las Vegas and called off a strike deadline for another. The agreements averted a Monday morning walkout as the city kicks off Super Bowl week. The Culinary Workers Union announced Saturday that it had reached a tentative five-year contract with the Golden Nugget, Binion’s, Four Queens, Fremont and Main Street that covers about 1,000 workers.”
January 31, 2024 | KIMA
“We previously reported the boycott and strike that took place regarding Macy's workers and the U-F-C-W 3000 that reached an agreement. Yesterday they announced that Macy's workers voted to accept the new contract. Previously the U-F-C-W 3000 called for a boycott in most Washington Macy's stores, which included Macy's Valley Mall in Union Gap, but eventually led to a contract agreement.”
Entertainment
February 5, 2024 | Mother Jones
“As the pandemic took hold and tensions between the haves and have-nots simmered, I couldn’t log in to social media without spotting an image of a guillotine, the enduring symbol of the French Revolution. By then, a similar ire toward the wealthy had already begun to seep into cinema, as evidenced by the success of the 2019 Korean film Parasite—pitting a striving family against a grotesquely wealthy one—which swept the Oscars just before the pandemic sent us all into lockdown.”
Corporate Greed
February 1, 2024 | Vice
“Trader Joe’s has become the second company in a month to argue in court that the National Labor Relations Board is “unconstitutional,” following the lead of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, as both companies face board charges for firing employees. These two major corporations aren’t alone in attempting to protect their interests by undermining public institutions; Meta is also arguing in an ongoing lawsuit that the Federal Trade Commission is unconstitutional.”
